Congressman Leonard Boswell gave a five-word explanation Sunday afternoon when asked about the lawsuit he filed Friday against his 2008 Democratic primary opponent. Ed Fallon of Des Moines claims two Boswell staffers offered him an 80-thousand dollar job on Boswell’s congressional staff if he would drop his bid to run against Boswell. During a news conference in Des Moines, Boswell was asked why he filed the defamation suit against Fallon. “Because he told an untruth,” Boswell said. Boswell said nothing more about the lawsuit or Fallon’s statements. During an interview with Radio Iowa Friday night, Fallon said his former wife, who served as his 2008 campaign manager, was in the room when the job offer was made. Boswell is seeking damages from Fallon, alleging Fallon’s recent public statements have damaged his reputation.

(Radio Iowa)

October brings the start of National Bullying Prevention Month. July Hertzog, the director of the PACER National Bullying Prevention Center, says it’s a month to educate the public about this issue. Her organization, which is located in Minnesota, started addressing the issue in 2006.

Official T-shirt of National Bullying Prevention Month in support of PACER.

“We recognized at that time that bullying was going to be an issue that we wanted communities to get behind, so this is actually the seventh year of this event. And we have a message of ‘the end of bullying begins with me,’ and it’s about a time when communities can unite behind bullying prevention,” according toe Hertzog.

Hertzog says there will be activities across the state and nation addressing the problems of bullying in the classroom, and everyone is asked to wear orange on Unity Day on October 10. “It’s and activity that’s simple to do, we really encourage schools to take part in it,” Hertzog says. “Because what it does is just send that visible tangible message, that it is an issue that people care about and that they want to show support for those people who are being bullied.” Hertzog says the main way to end bullying is to work together and stand up to address this problem.

She said the message is to start addressing the problem right now to talk about it and take action. Hertzog says PACER offers help for those who want to address it with resources at www.PACER.org/bullying. There is also a national toll free phone number for more information on bullying prevention. It’s 1-888-248-0822.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Branstad says recent changes in school lunch menus can help Iowa reach his goal of becoming the healthiest state in the country.”More home-grown fruits and vegetables and more whole grain items is clearly what is needed — along with good exercise,” Branstad says. But critics say the changes aren’t going over well with the students, and more food is being thrown away. Registered dietician Teresa Nece is teaching a class at Iowa State University about food service management. She says give these new menus “time” to work.

“In schools we have to teach habits,” she says. “…To make that type of a change — to increase fruits and vegetables to students — we really have to look at how long does it take a student to learn to like something and science tells us it can takes as many as a dozen times for children to learn to like a new food item.” The governor suggests kids can embrace changes in the school lunch menu — if it’s presented in the right way. “What I find is when you really get kids involved in this, they become enthusiastic about doing the right thing and recognizing that this is something that will help them throughout their lives.”

David Stark, president and chief operating officer of Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, says the changes have been a topic in his home. “Ask my four kids about the fewer desserts in their school menu this year — they’re disappointed,” Stark says. “I’m thrilled, as their dad, that that’s happening and we’ve got to do more of that.” Stark says he and his wife haven’t been the most popular soccer league parents over the years because for treats they brought slices of fresh oranges. But Stark says his own children are starting to embrace the changes in their school lunch menu and recently raved about the fresh raspberries they were served.

Stark, Nece and Branstad made their comments during a news conference on a related topic — improving the equipment in school kitchens so staff can prepare food that’s more appetizing and attractive to students.

(Radio Iowa)

Sentencing is set to take place at 9-a.m. Monday in Cass County District Court, in the case of a former Anita Community School District teacher who pled guilty on September 4^th, to two-counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by a School Employee, Counselor or Therapist, with the intent to arouse. 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes entered into voluntary plea agreement which stipulated he would plead guilty to the two Aggravated Misdemeanor counts in exchange for a felony charge of Sexual Exploitation, and the remaining 47 Aggravated Misdemeanor charges of Sexual Exploitation being dropped.

Foulkes admitted to kissing a juvenile female on numerous occasions while teaching the student in a math program, from August 2009 until November 11th, 2010. He resigned from his teaching position in November 2010.

Foulkes remains free on $50,000 bond pending sentencing. As part of his sentence, he will likely be required to register as a Sex Offender, and complete a Sex Offender Treatment Program in a residential correctional facility. He is also expected to pay restitution to the State and Victim, and have no contact with the victim.  In addition, it’s expected Foulkes will be required to serve two, two-year terms of supervised probation for the combined counts, with the time to be served consecutively, or back-to-back. He had faced a maximum of 103-years in prison and fines of more than $300,000.

He’ll also be required to pay fines for each count ranging from $625 to $6,250, plus court costs and surcharges.

w/ Chris Parks

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State Executive Director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency John R. Whitaker announced that disaster assistance under FSA’s Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program begins on October 22, 2012.

In order to be eligible for SURE a farm or ranch must meet the following requirements: 1. At least a 10 percent production loss on a crop of economic significance.  2. Insured all economically significant crops.  3. Been physically located in a county that was declared a primary disaster county or contiguous county by the Secretary of Agriculture under a Secretarial Designation.  Without a Secretarial Disaster Designation, individual producers may be eligible if the actual production on the farm is less than 50 percent of the normal production on the farm due to natural disaster in 2011.  Other insurance qualifications do apply.

Those producers that suffered a loss in 2011 are encouraged to visit their local FSA office to learn more and to apply.

For more information about the SURE program or other disaster assistance programs you can visit the FSA’s website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

A western Iowa man is headed to federal prison for possession of a homemade hand grenade.

Federal prosecutors in Iowa say 38-year-old Alan Lee Heath of Harlan was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison for possessing a destructive device. U.S. District Court Judge James Gritzner also ordered Heath to serve two years of supervised release once his prison term ends.

Authorities says Heath was stopped by two Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies in December, after he was seen trespassing at a private residence. Deputies say they had to subdue him, and a search of his person found a device that included a plastic cylinder with gun powder, wrapped with electrical tape. The device had .22-caliber bullets taped to the outside.

Officials in Shelby County say 4 people were arrested in connection with the theft that took place on September 8th at the Shelby County Speedway. KJAN’s sister station KNOD says the Harlan Police Department reports 26 year old Zachary Scheffler, 27 year old David Coenen, both of Harlan and 19 year old Kaitlyn Stessman of Defiance, were all charged with 1st degree theft. In addition, 18 year old Zachary Kloewer of Harlan was charged with possession of stolen property. 23 year old Jacob Scheffler of Harlan, along with Kloewer and Coenen were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors had their final September meeting Friday morning at the Cass County Courthouse.

The Board heard from Cass County Attorney Dan Feistner and unanimously approved hiring Deb Church as a temporary office assistant for a few weeks until they get a final hire done.  Feistner explained that she’s been a tremendous help and typically comes in a couple of days each week.

The Supervisors then heard from Cass County Engineer Charles Marker.  He provided the Board with an update on the various projects the Secondary Roads Department is handling.  He says they recently sent out proposals to construct a bridge at the intersection of G43 and N28 just north of Cumberland.  They hope to have a bid on that project from a contractor soon.

Marker also says they have begun spraying weeds on county roads.  He says they’re trying to cover as much ground as possible but they do have 750 miles of road left to spray in the county.  According to Marker, they used to be able to hire a contractor to do the work about 10 years ago but because of finances they are no longer able to hire contractors, which is why the County is seeing 10 years worth of growth on the roads.  He says they hopefully might be able to have some of the farmers take up the responsibility.

The Harlan Police Department reports several arrests the past few weeks.

On Thursday, 28-year-old Carl Parkhust of Harlan was cited for driving without a valid drivers license following a traffic stop.  He was cited and released.

On Tuesday, 59-year-old Gary Anderson of Harlan was cited for violation of open burning regulations when police received calls from citizens alleging that Anderson was burning household garbage.  Anderson was cited and released.

On September 23, 23-year-old Casey Sheehan of Harlan was arrested when officers were called to the intersection of 16th and Pine Streets for a male subject passed out behind the steering wheel of his car.  He was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

On September 14, Travis Culp of Harlan reported that someone had taken money from his account through an ATM.  As a result of an investigation, 23-year-old Ramon Briones of Council Bluffs was arrested and charged with 5th degree theft and identity theft.  Briones was also held on an active warrant out of Pottawatamie County.

On September 10, Andrea Petersen of Harlan reported that someone had forged her checks and cashed them at a local business.  Subsequently, 19-year-old Kaitlyn Stessman of Harlan was taken into custody and charged with two counts of forgery.